Childminding in oz

[ickleric2018]

Hi what kind of money would my wife get if she started her own childminding business?

[Guest]

It’s called family day care here.

Not sure about elsewhere but in our part of Aus it’s not charged by the day or half day but by the hour. So it can maybe be frustrating if you have people who pick kids up early and you therefore lose a few hours worth of chargeable hours. 

 

[ickleric2018]

Thanks do you know how much per hour it is?

[Guest]

I would expect it to vary depending on the city and area.

 

[Toots]

This article is 3 years old but may give you a rough idea of setting up childcare in your home.  Costs are near the bottom.

 

Do You Like Caring For Children, But Want To Work From Home?

Start your own family day care business and do both!

Child care is now one of Australia’s biggest and most important industries, with more than1.1 million children attending child care services.  That’s a massive 39% increase in attendance since only 2008!

There has been rapid growth in the number of child care services to meet the growing demand from parents. The cost of child care has also increased significantly. Despite the growing number of places and increases in cost, many centre-based child care services still have long waiting lists.

Setting up your own Family Day Care business can be a way to offer parents home-based care as an alternative to centre-based care. At the same time, you can operate your own business, from home, working with children.

How do you get started?

Step 1: Get Qualified!
Step 2: Understand the Family Day Care Requirements and Regulations
Step 3: Apply for a License and Get Approval
How much is the salary of family day care operators?
Where can I learn more about becoming a provider?
Summary

Step 1: Get Qualified!

First make sure that you’re qualified.

The minimum qualification required to operate and work in your own family day care business is the Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care or equivalent. You don’t actually need to complete your training before you get started. You simply need to be enrolled and actively working towards your qualification. Of course, it is still best to complete your training as soon as possible!

You can also continue your training with diploma level qualifications like the Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care. This will help you develop additional skills like establishing a safe environment for children and how to facilitate your day care’s compliance with Australian regulations. It is not essential to run your own family day care service, but it will allow you to pursue jobs such as Family Day Care Coordinator in the future. Family Day Care Coordinators monitor, support and train other in-home care providers.

First aid is another skill that all educators and even assistants in family day care must have. You will complete the first aid unit HLTAID004 – Provide an emergency first aid response in an education and care setting as part of you Certificate III or Diploma qualification, butyou also need additional training in anaphylaxis and emergency asthma management. These courses can be taken through any RTO in Australia like Australia Wide First Aid.

All these qualifications are sought after by the entire child care industry, not just in family day care. This means that you will have the flexibility to work in start your own family day care business OR work in a centre-based care service. Eventually you can even become a Family Day Care Coordinator or Child Care Centre Manager once you have experience and earn your diploma-level qualification.

Step 2: Understand The Family Day Care Requirements And Regulations

When you start a Family Day Care business, you will be teaching and caring for children in your own home. Therefore your home needs to be checked for safety and suitability every year. Some examples of the resources and regulations your facility should have or  follow are:

• • Indoor rooms that are well ventilated with natural light and a safe temperature
• • Outdoor areas enclosed with a barrier to keep children from leaving unsupervised
• • Glassed areas must be glazed or blocked to prevent injury from shattering
• • A first aid kit accessible to adults present
• • A telephone or any other immediate communication method to contact parents and emergency services
• • Additional precautions must be taken to remove potential hazards to children
• • Everyone 18 years or older who lives at your home must be fit and proper to be around children

While providing your services, you must make sure that:

• • You only care for a maximum of 7 children at a time, with a maximum of 4 children preschool age or under in the group
• • Children have enough supervision and are not left alone with visitors or leave your home without an authorised person
• • Children are not exposed to tobacco, illicit drugs or alcohol and have access to nutritious food and safe drinking water
• • Corporal punishment or other unreasonable discipline methods are not used
• • You follow sound health and hygiene practices

You must have policies, procedures and records, including:

• • Evacuation and medical emergency procedures
• • Records of each child’s enrolment, attendance and medication
• • Documentation of child assessments under your educational program
• • Log of all visitors to your home and any incidents, illnesses or injuries that happen

A list of these requirements, named the Education and Care Services National Law and Regulations can be found online at the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) website. You can check if you have everything you need by downloading the official regulatory requirements for family day care.

Step 3: Apply For A License And Get Approval

To get government approval to open and manage your own family day care service, you will need to apply for approval from your state regulator. Each state and territory may have its own set of requirements and criteria, but applications are all done online through ACECQA’s NQA IT System.

View the locally-specific requirements for your area by visiting your state childcare regulator below:

• ACT: Children’s Education and Care Assurance, Early Childhood Policy and Regulation, Education Directorate, ACT Government
• NSW: Early Childhood Education. NSW Department of Education
• NT: Quality Education and Care NT, Department of Education
• QLD: Regulation, Assessment and Service Quality | Early Childhood and Community Engagement, Dept of Education and Training
• SA: Education Standards Board
• TAS: Department of Education, Education and Care Unit
• VIC: Department of Education and Training
• WA: Department of Communities, Education and Care Regulatory Unit

How Much Is The Salary Of Family Day Care Operators?

Based on the latest Government reports, the median cost of having a child attend family day care for 50 hours a week is $375. That works out to between $7 and $8 per hour per child. Actual rates may vary from $6 to $10 depending on your location. This means if you have the maximum 7 children in your care for 50 hours per week you can gross approximately $2625 in salaries per week.

However! There are expenses to consider:

• • Administration costs
• •Bookkeeping & accounting fees
• • Cleaning & laundry
• • Maintenance
• • Electricity & gas
• • Home inspections by Family Day Care Coordinators
• • Insurance policies
• • Alterations of your home required to provide a safe environment for children
• • Nutritious food & drink
• • Nappies for babies and young children
• • Play equipment and other stimulating activities
• • Pest control
• • Rent (if you rent and a specific portion of your property is set aside for family day care activities)
• • Telephone & internet
• • Wages for relief educators
• • Professional development activities like workshops, conferences and seminars
• • Don’t forget, you need to pay yourself superannuation and factor in your sick days and holidays!

[ali]

She would also need an ABN number and if you live in a Rental property you would need the approval of the landlord who may have to make some modifications to meet the necessary criteria.

[ickleric2018]

Thanks everyone I did wonder about if we rented something about speaking to the landlord

[Guest]

You could have to make lots of changes and modifications that a landlord may not be happy with or want done. I’ve no clue if you can run a family day care out of a private home rental tbh and if you can the logistics of it all. I know people who are home owners who do it but they had to jump thorough a lot of hoops and make many changes to their home and garden. 

 

[Sammy1]

1 hour ago, ickleric2018 said:

Thanks everyone I did wonder about if we rented something about speaking to the landlord

You can certainly speak to the homeowners. However, be aware that you will be required to make many modifications to the home, family care requirements are very strict here. This will require money and even if the homeowner agreed to you running a business, they would not be responsible for the financial outlay- you would. A rental is normally leased for only a year at a time, so that is a financial risk in itself. For this reason, family daycare is normally only run from owner occupier homes.

Edited February 3, 2018 by Sammy1

[Eera]

My daycare was $7.50 p/h, $10 out of hours and different rates for sleepovers.  Be aware though, there are a *lot* of extra things the daycare are expected to do on top of that (assuming you are part of a scheme and not just advertising on FB); you have to do daily observations, risk assess everything, have a home that meets regulations for ceiling height, daylight and temperature etc, plus if you have your own kids under 13 they count towards the maximum number of children who are allowed in the house at any time.  My lady is actually trying to get out of it now as the red tape is getting unbearable.

If you don't own your own home also bear in mind that the landlord's insurance may not allow it - my insurance with Suncorp had a clause specifically forbidding a tenant from running their own business within a home.  I queried it as my tenants were self-employed concreters but insurance said it was for things like daycare that could potentially cause damage (don't shoot the messenger on that one, it's what they said!)